As Mark Zuckerberg keeps steering Meta (NASDAQ: META | META Price Prediction) in the wrong direction, his net worth keeps falling. It is down $25 billion this year and is still dropping, to $209 billion. That puts him barely ahead of Michael Dell, who is at $204 billion.
Zuckerberg can blame the entire drop on his decision to march Meta into AI competition with companies that include OpenAI, Anthropic, and Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG), which are well ahead. Based on all evidence, Meta won’t catch up. Its earnings made it clear he continues to double down on AI anyway. That showed up in earnings.
Meta’s top line growth rate remains impressive based on its size. In the quarter, revenue rose 28% to $60.8 billion, which keeps it on track to be one of the largest companies in America by that yardstick. Ad impressions were almost as strong and were up 14% year over year. These are the company’s revenue engine.
However, this did not translate into strong earnings. Net income fell 14% to $15.9 billion. Guidance was weak. “We expect third quarter 2026 total revenue to be in the range of $61-64 billion.” And the amount of money Meta plans to spend was nothing short of colossal. “We anticipate 2026 capital expenditures, including principal payments on finance leases, to be in the range of $130-145 billion, narrowed from our prior outlook of $125-145 billion.” Free cash flow nearly disappeared as it dropped 91%.
Meta has said its eventual AI data center investment will go well above $200 billion. It won’t get all that money from earnings and its balance sheet, which means partnerships with financial companies and, probably, Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA), which is handing out money like candy. Most of this money goes back to the purchase of its chips.
Zuckerberg owns 14% of Meta’s shares, but controls the company completely through 60% ownership of shares that allow him to control the board. After earnings, Meta’s stock could actually be down 20% for the year. Yesterday, Meta’s market cap was $1.49 billion, which puts it in 9th place worldwide. After earnings, it will probably drop below SpaceX (NASDAQ: SPCX) and Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA).
Every bit of evidence shows that Meta’s huge investment in AI is not over, and perhaps is just beginning. It will need to surge more to keep up with the industry leaders. However, the market is unhappy because Meta believes it can play in a market in which it has already lost.
Perhaps to save investors money, Zuckerberg should use his own net worth to expand Meta’s AI investments.
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